Tagged: Jarrod Washburn
Brewers were close to three-team deal for a pitcher
The Brewers were so close to completing what general manager Doug Melvin called a “big,” three-team trade for a pitcher ahead of Friday’s nonwaiver Trade Deadline that Ken Macha tuned into the MLB Network in the visiting manager’s office at PETCO Park and waited to see the news break.
It never did.
The deal fizzled, and the pitcher in question wasn’t traded. Because of that fact, Macha and Melvin refused to talk about the blockbuster that wasn’t — Melvin did assure reporters that the pitcher in question wasn’t Toronto’s Roy Halladay — and the Brewers were left to soldier on with a weakened starting rotation.
Earlier in the week, Melvin thought he might have a shot at Seattle’s Jarrod Washburn, but “I didn’t think we were ever close,” Melvin said.
But Melvin was near to completing, “a much bigger deal,” that was so close to happening that within a half hour of the 4 p.m. ET deadline to trade players without first exposing them to waivers, Melvin had principal owner Mark Attanasio waiting near a phone for final approval. When the three-team proposal fell apart, Melvin had another trade possibility in the works within 10 minutes of the deadline.
“It just didn’t happen,” Melvin said. “Both of them revolved around what another team was doing. Those are always tough.”
So who was involved in the mysterious big one? Macha would only reveal that it was not a pitcher who would have been available to start for the Brewers on Saturday. Melvin wouldn’t say, either, even when a reporter presented him with some possible names. One of the names was Atlanta right-hander Javier Vazquez, who had just pitched on Thursday, but a National League scout offered assurances that the Brewers and Braves weren’t talking about Vazquez on Friday.
— Adam McCalvy
Washburn could be fit for Tigers
Oh, what a difference a turn in the rotation makes. When Jarrod Washburn made his last start, baffling the Tigers over seven scoreless innings, the Mariners looked like a team that could make a run in the AL West after all. The Mariners didn’t win another game from their other four starters, and as Washburn prepared for his next start Tuesday night, rumors heated up about Washburn on the selling block.
The Tigers had as good of a view as anybody at what Washburn could do, and as a team in search of a left-handed starter, they couldn’t help but be impressed. If the Mariners as serious about listening to offers for the southpaw in his final year of his contract, look for the Tigers to at least inquire. The challenge for them is that so many other teams are in need of solid, consistent starters that Washburn’s value could rise quickly, especially now that a few contenders had injury concerns emerge.
The Tigers had an appealing package for the Mariners in trade talks for J.J. Putz over the winter, including left-handed power hitting such as Jeff Larish. But these Mariners are a different team than last fall.
— Jason Beck
As injuries mount, Brewers still shopping
I just called Brewers general manager Doug Melvin to see if the news of
Jeff Suppan’s rib-cage strain — an injury that often sends a pitcher
to the disabled list — changes his plan of attack for Friday’s
nonwaiver trade deadline.
The answer was no.
“We’re
still looking for guys who are available,” Melvin said. “We’d like to
get a starter. We’ll have to wait a few days before we find out [about
Suppan]. We’ll evaluate then.”
Even if it’s bad news, Melvin will be smart about his aggressiveness on the market.
“I’m not going to go out and give up a better player just because Suppan is out,” he said.
Suppan
underwent an MRI scan on Tuesday after complaining of tightness in his
side. Right-hander Dave Bush is already on the disabled list with a
triceps injury, and Seth McClung and Mike Burns were tried out as starters
and then bounced from the rotation (McClung is now hurt and Burns is
back in Triple-A). Another new starter, Carlos Villanueva, allowed five
runs in four innings on Tuesday.
“It’s been tough right now even
though we’ve been healthy,” Melvin said. “I have confidence in these
guys getting better, but we haven’t pitched well. When you’re not going
well, you don’t get the breaks, either.”
Melvin confirmed that
he remains in touch with Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik, who holds a chip
in left-hander Jarrod Washburn, who was 8-6 with a 2.70 ERA ahead of
his Tuesday night start in Toronto. Washburn, a Wisconsin native, is a
free agent after the season, and FOXSports.com speculated that
Zduriencik, Milwaukee’s former scouting director, might consider
injured second baseman Rickie Weeks in return. Zduriencik drafted Weeks
in 2003.
Acknowledging that the teams have been linked in
published reports, Melvin said, “We’d like to add a starter, but Jack
hasn’t decided yet if he would move one or not.”
— Adam McCalvy
Yankees searching for arms
The Yankees are apparently not satisfied to go forward keeping Sergio Mitre as their fifth starter, not after the recent callup has surrendered 17 hits in 10 2/3 innings over his two starts for New York. While the Yankees have won both of Mitre’s starts, there may be better options available on the trade front, and general manager Brian Cashman is checking them out.
AOL Fanhouse reported Monday that the Yankees and Reds are in “serious discussions” about Bronson Arroyo, the former Red Sox right-hander, and that the Bombers have two scouts in Cincinnati who could be on hand for Arroyo’s scheduled start on Tuesday.
New York has also engaged the Mariners in discussions concerning Jarrod Washburn, a familiar target – the hurler was linked to the Yankees during the winter as well. The Yankees did scout Roy Halladay’s last start in Toronto but are still considered long shots to get involved in the bidding derby.
The Yankees have a void because Chien-Ming Wang is set to visit Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday and faces the prospect of season-ending shoulder surgery, and continue to monitor an innings limit on Joba Chamberlain. They have also been reluctant to extract starters Phil Hughes and Alfredo Aceves from the bullpen, where each has found success in helping the Yankees enter play Monday 22 games over .500 at 60-38.
Cashman said last week: “Offense is not an area right now at all that I’m focused on. We’ll continue to look at the pitching. The obvious injury to
Wang right now has hurt. Ian Kennedy’s aneurysm has hurt. The
transferring of Hughes and Aceves to the bullpen has taken away
immediate choices for the rotation. There is a depth issue that is
real.”
— Bryan Hoch
Trade Talk 